Nikkei seen trading in range, awaiting Fed

August 28, 2012|Reuters

TOKYO, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average isexpected to tread in range on Wednesday, tracking lacklustretrading on Wall Street as investors await U.S. Federal ReserveChairman Ben Bernanke's speech on Friday for any hints offurther stimulus measures. The Nikkei was likely to trade between 8,950 and9,100, strategists said, while Nikkei futures in Chicago closed at 9,045 on Tuesday, down 0.1 percent from theOsaka close. U.S. stocks ended little changed in another day of scarceactivity on Tuesday. "Rangebound trading is expected today, with mixedindications from U.S. economic data," said Kenichi Hirano,operating officer at Tachibana Securities. U.S. home prices rose for the fifth consecutive month inJune, a fresh sign of improvement as the recovery in the housingmarket picks up steam, but in a reminder of how fragile thebroader economy remains, consumer confidence unexpectedlyweakened in August to its lowest in nine months. "From a technical point of view, we need to see if theNikkei can hold above its 200-day moving average, now at 8,973,"Hirano said. On Tuesday, the Nikkei fell 0.6 percent to 9,033.29,remaining below its five-day moving average at 9,099.86, whilethe broader Topix index dropped 1.2 percent to 746.30.

STOCKS TO WATCH -DAIKIN INDUSTRIES LTD Daikin Industries, the world's second-largest maker of airconditioners, has agreed to buy U.S. rival Goodman Global Incfrom private equity firm Hellman & Friedman in a deal worthabout 300 billion yen ($3.8 billion), according to a sourcefamiliar with the matter. --SHARP CORP The embattled TV maker said it would offer severancepackages to as many as 2,000 workers in Japan as part of a planto lay off one-tenth of its global work force in a bid to cutcosts. --RENESAS ELECTRONICS CORP U.S. private equity firm KKR & Co LP plans to invest100 billion yen ($1.3 billion) in struggling Japanese chipmakerRenesas Electronics Corp by next month, the Nikkeireported. --NIPPON SEIKI CO LTD Nippon Seiki has agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to fixprices of dashboard panel instruments and will pay a $1 millionfine, the U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday.

--TOYOTA TSUSHO CORP The Japanese trading company confirmed on Tuesday that itplanned to go ahead with an offer for the remainder ofdistribution firm CFAO after buying a 29.8 percentstake from French retailer PPR. --SHOWA DENKO KK Showa Denko stopped its rare-earth metals alloy plants inChina as demand for magnets dropped from Japanese electronicsdevice makers, the Nikkei said.